Little Tin of Big Worries

The card set outlines 70 common worries for discussion, grouped into five main areas:

1. Friendship
2. Home and family
3. School and society​
4. Personal
5. The world around

Examples include:
Being alone, Falling out with a friend, No one talking to you, Moving home, Loss of a family member, Parents splitting up, Family arguing, Serious illness, Your appearance, Money, Knowing what to do in an emergency, Forgetting someone’s name, Losing things, A new school or situation, Having to talk in front of people, Not having the right clothes, Not being able to do your work, Being blamed for something you didn’t do, Breaking something, Having to ask for help, Forgetting things, People making fun of you, A fight, Looking silly in front of people, Not being liked, Making new friends, Bullies, Saying something you wished you hadn’t, Things on TV and lots more. There’s even a “?” card for you to add your own worry.

There are also six strategy cards with ideas on how to handle the concerns and to help players decide on an appropriate way to tackle each individual worry. The strategies are:

1. Asking for help
2. Looking for the positive
3. Taking preventative action
4. Realising when it is someone else’s worry
5. Finding information
6. Knowing when a worry needs to be discarded

To use the Little Tin of Big Worries lay the six Solution Cards out on the table and discuss the meaning of each. Then place the Worry Cards in a pile face down and the children/young people take it in turns to pick up the top card, discuss the worry, and decide on which Solution Card is the most relevant.

The cards can be used across a wide spectrum of ages and situations as each user interprets the worries in their own way and will relate them to their own experiences. Many worries are applicable to every phase of our lives e.g. bullying can be found in the nursery, primary school, secondary school, college and the workplace.

Contents: 70 worry cards, 6 solution cards, guidance notes

All ages
ISBN 978-1-907370-02-1

“We have been working with the Little Tin of Big Worries, and have found it a great resource especially for our social skills groups. The content enables the children to access the information and find the worry to be discussed without having to think of a worry and then verbalise it. The solutions can also lend themselves to great discussions.”
Julie Collins-Ballands, SENCO at Bishop Luffa School, Chichester